Tasty Tuesday

Pears and delicata squash tossed with brown sugar, chili powder and bacon is a delectable combination. To make this vegetarian, omit and bacon and toss the squash and pears with the brown sugar and chili powder during the last 5 minutes of roasting.

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees
2. Cut squash in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices. Toss in a large bowl with pears, oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a large baking sheet.
3. Roast the squash and pears until just tender, stirring once or twice, 20 to 25 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, cook bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until crisp, 4 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
5. Discard all but 2 teaspoons fat from the pan. Over medium heat, stir in water, brown sugar and chili powder. Add the squash and pears; toss to coat. Crumble the bacon on top.

Tasty Tuesday, Chili-Brown Sugar Delicata Squash with Pears was last modified: September 27th, 2013 by elizabeth

1. In a large 8-quart pot heat olive oil over medium heat, then add cumin seeds and black mustard seeds. Saute until they begin to pop. Quickly add onions and garlic and saute until soft, about 5 minutes.

This recipe was inspired by my love of two great dishes — tabbouli salad and hummous! And, I had A LOT of broccoli in the fridge. The tabbouli-inspired flavors are the mint-cilantro-parsley herb mixture and the tomatoes. The hummous-inspired flavors were the lemon-tahini-olive oil-garlic, and of course, the chickpeas! Super-easy to make, and delicious. We even got two thumbs up from a self-professed “broccoli hater”.

You can choose the degree to which you cook the broccoli — I steamed mine in a vegetable steamer for about 12 minutes, and it was quite well cooked. If you like, you could just lightly steam (perhaps 6 minutes?) and then mix it all together to marinate in the dressing for an hour or so before serving. My broccoli was too soft to mix together until just before I served it. Of course, if you prefer, you can use the broccoli raw; I feel it is easier to digest if it is cooked a bit.

In order to keep the recipe vegan, there is no cheese added, but I think it would be delicious with some crumbled feta over it. You could also substitute lacinato kale for the broccoli, and cannellini beans for the chickpeas.

This recipe is dairy-free, gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free……but not taste-free. You will find it is full of flavor.

Serves 12 to 14

Ingredients:

28 ounce can of chickpeas/garbanzo beans

2 1/2 to 3 cups broccoli florets (cut into bite sized pieces)

1 quart grape or cherry tomatoes, washed and cut in halves

1 bunch cilantro, washed and chopped

1 heaping Tablespoon (or more, to taste) chopped fresh mint

2 Tablespoons (or more, to taste) chopped fresh Italian parsley

1/3 cup tahini paste (I used Maranatha Roasted Tahini Paste because I like the roasted flavor, and it is just salty enough to my taste. If you use a non-salted tahini, make sure you adjust salt to taste in your salad)

1 clove fresh garlic, peeled

1/3 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup (or slightly less) water

Sea Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. If you are cooking your broccoli, go ahead and set that up in your steamer. Once cooked to desired level, set aside. Note that if you like it more well-cooked, it might be too soft to mix into the salad until just before serving. If you mix it in, do so gently so that the florets do not get broken up — it is visually more interesting to have the nice, bite-sized florets whole).

2. Rinse and drain chickpeas, then place in a large bowl.

3. Add tomatoes and chopped cilantro, mint and parsley to the chickpeas. Toss to mix well. At this point you can add the broccoli if it is not falling apart.

4. Make the dressing: I used a food processor — you could also use a blender or Vitamix. Add the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and olive oil to the processor bowl. Process until smooth. It will be quite thick. Start adding water until it reaches the desired consistency. I used 1/4 cup of water for mine — you want the dressing to be thick enough to coat the ingredients….not too runny. Add salt and pepper to taste. I used freshly ground coarse sea salt — about three grinds, and about five grinds of fresh black pepper.

5. Pour dressing over the salad and mix well to coat ingredients. Allow it to sit (refrigerated) for about an hour before serving. We served it at room temperature yesterday and it was great.

Tasty Tuesday will no longer be every week. We will be sharing food and recipes once or twice a month — still on a Tuesday. Our next “Tasty Tuesday” for the month of May will be May 22nd. Stop in to see us then!

Tasty Tuesday: Important Update was last modified: September 27th, 2013 by elizabeth

Today we are having a light, fresh, and pretty spring soup. This spring-green colored soup is Vegan, Gluten-Free, Fat-Free, and Low Sodium. For those of you watching your weight and your cardiovascular health, it is a perfect accompaniment to a spring meal.

Ingredients:

6 1/2 cups of low sodium vegetable broth

1 large leek, white and light green parts only (you can save the dark green parts for making stock later)

Our month-long celebration of quinoa continues with this fabulous and healthy salad from Susan O’Brien’s wonderful cookbook, The Gluten-Free Vegan.

I hope these different ways of preparing quinoa have given you some ideas of variations and ways you can adapt it to suit the season and your individual tastes. This particular recipe would be wonderful served with sliced avocados and/or fresh corn. For those who are not vegan, crumbling some feta cheese onto it, or adding grilled shrimp would also be delicious! Enjoy.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of vegetable stock/broth

1 cup of quinoa — remember to rinse well and drain before cooking

1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper, diced into 1/4″ pieces

1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced

1 small red onion (or 2-3 scallions, if you prefer) finely diced

2 Roma (Italian) tomatoes, seeded, chopped and drained

1, 15 ounce can of beans — black beans, pinto beans, red kidney beans, or a mixture of whatever beans you like. Of course, you can also cook your own from dried. You will want about 1 1/2 cups

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/2 cup freshly made salsa (you can make your own or use store-bought from the produce section)

1 Tbsp canola oil

1 lime, juiced

Freshly ground pepper and sea salt

Instructions:

1. Cook the rinsed quinoa — bring your stock to a boil, add the quinoa, lower heat and cook until the liquid is absorbed, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

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Elizabeth is an outstanding acupuncturist. I saw her two years ago for specific physical problems and am continuing to work with her as I address larger life issues. As a movement analyst and teacher, I admire the effective blend of professional skills and personal qualities that Elizabeth brings to her work;

Elizabeth is WONDERFUL! I have been seeing her for a little over one year. As she promotes on her website, she is present with you and where you are. She loves her practice, is kind and smart and funny and oh-so-caring about your situation without breaching any professional boundaries. Elizabeth

Elizabeth is truly a gem. I have struggled with an auto-immune disease for about six years. After meeting so many “challenging” people in the medical community, she is a HUGE breath of fresh air. She genuinely cares, and she simply knows what she is doing.

It is with a very high praise that I recommend Elizabeth Fellows to you, I have had in the past, some experience with acupuncture and I can say that working with Elizabeth has been a pleasure, and her competence in this field has been demonstrated to me in the course

I love Center Point Healing. I have been a patient here since April 2007. From the time I first walked through the doors at Center Point Healing, Elizabeth Fellows has made me feel as if I was her only patient. Before she begins treating you , she sits with you

Elizabeth Fellows is a wonderful acupuncturist. She has helped me with several health issues as well as just gaining a feeling of general well-being. My treatment times have been the most relaxing time of the week for me.

Elizabeth provides great service. She asks questions to ascertain any medical issues you have and really listens to what you say. Her treatment plan is holistic and I can say that the overall quality of my health has improved. I will continue to use her services.